The Dog Shack gives the Ocean City Boardwalk creative hot dogs

Co-owner Nicholas Spinziani, of Ocean City, puts the finishing touches on a Chicago Dog next to an order of house-made potato chips at The Dog Shack on the Ocean City Boardwalk.

The Dog Shack is a new addition on the 1100 block of the Ocean City Boardwalk, with creative hot dogs and burgers.

It was the Fourth of July, 2011, when the concept for The Dog Shack was hatched, Nicholas Spinziani says. After what he calls a few too many drinks, he and his brother-in-law, Bill Campbell, decided to open a hot dog place on the Ocean City Boardwalk.

Campbell had been working in real estate. Spinziani had the culinary experience, working in the restaurant industry since he was 15 years old, although mostly in high-end restaurants.

"I wanted to do something that was my speed," Spinziani says.

That translated to a more casual, fast-food type of thing.

"We had been talking about it for years," Spinziani says.

They just never got around to actually doing it.

Spinziani's mom, who has a house in Ocean City, found the empty space on the Boardwalk.

"The rest is history," Spinziani says.

It may sound simple but that was when the hard work began.

"Most of the dogs on the menu are stuff that we came up with, either me or Bill," Spinziani says.

Some of the combinations of hot dog and condiment are prepared in the classic style.

Some are done their way. Many were created in the year before they opened, testing combinations on their friends and family, before coming up with the perfect ingredients to go with their perfect dogs.

They also visited many of the traditional hot dog places that were doing the kinds of things they wanted to recreate, tasting and critiquing as they went.

It was hard work, but somebody had to do it. The Ocean City Boardwalk lacked a really good hot dog joint.

The classic hot dog from Chicago - and one of their most popular dogs - is the eponymous Chicago Dog ($4.75), topped with neon green relish, tomatoes, celery salt, pickles and sports peppers, a regional condiment of tiny, pickled green peppers that Spinziani buys directly from a Chicago purveyor.

Chicagoans would expect nothing less on their hot dogs.

For the hot dog purist, the Naked Dog ($3.75) is the way to go, with a plain hot dog simply served on a fresh Liscio's bun. From there, any combination of toppings is fair game.

The Philly Dog ($5.25) is one of the most expensive, topped with Cheese Whiz, onions and Shack homemade chili. The Boston Dog ($4.75) features their house-made Samuel Adams sauerkraut and house-made baked beans.

Chicken burgers are made from freshly ground breast meat daily and can be personalized with any of the above toppings.

"Everyone who works at the Surf Mall gets those," Spinziani says.

An unusual option is the vegetarian delight ($6), which is a falafel burger or chickpea patty, served with lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber yogurt sauce and harrissa hot sauce. They are made from whole-dried chickpeas that are soaked overnight, ground with fresh onion, garlic, cumin and cayenne, then shaped like a burger and served on a bun to keep the sandwich in line with their concept.

Not listed on the menu is a shrimp Po' Boy ($7.50) made with cornmeal-crusted shrimp and a creole remoulade sauce.

"We do a lot of things in-house," Spinziani says.

The house-made, pub-style potato chips are cut and cooked at The Dog Shack. The chips are served with many different kinds of seasoning including BBQ, malt vinegar, salt and pepper, cheddar cheese, bacon or Shack chili.

"We make our own pickles and sauerkraut," Spinziani says, an unusual touch for any restaurant.

Spinziani also makes a spicy Jersey corn relish, using fresh, local white corn.

The pineapple salsa for the Hawaiian dog ($4.75) is homemade and so is the cole slaw.

At The Dog Shack, pina coladas ($4.50) are made with fresh pineapple, coconut milk and Coco Lopez and are non-alcoholic.

The Dog Shack does not have seating, but it doesn't get much better than sitting on the beach or boardwalk with your favorite dog.

BETWEEN YOU AND ME: What makes The Dog Shack's hot dogs so special? Normal hot dogs found at the grocery store are 8 to 1, meaning two ounces each, or eight to a pound. The Dog Shack dogs are 100 percent beef hot dogs, 6 to 1. The Dog Shack also uses a South Jersey favorite: fresh-baked Liscio's rolls for their buns. Most of the condiments are made from scratch.